THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 



] JULY, 1S72. [No. 7. 



NEW SERIES. 



EXHIBITIONS. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 June 5th, 6th, and 7th. 



This, with the exception of the Great Provincial Show 

 to be held at Birmingham, is the most extensive one of 

 the year held under the auspices of the Society, and 

 was largely contributed to by the most celebrated 

 nurserymen and amateurs who exhibit in or near the 

 metropolis. In a show of so extensive a character, it 

 were idle in our brief space to attempt an enumeration 

 of the many points of interest and value it presented; 

 but where the magnificent plants of Mr. Baines, and pe- 

 largoniums of Mr.Ward,Ferns,Orchids, Bulbs, and Stove 

 plants from Williams, Jackson, Bull, Veitch and others, 

 were to be seen, besides a tent full of cut flowers and 

 fruit, it may well be considered that there was some- 

 thing worth looking at. Yet, to our mind, there was a 

 want of finish and taste in the arrangement of the tent, 

 which was to be lamented. In the first place, the wood- 

 work of the tent ought to have been green, not stone 

 colour. Then, when one entered the tent and stood on 

 the raised mound which was the " coign of vantage," 

 there was a lumpiness about it that was very dif- 

 ferent to what we saw at Manchester. There were here 

 fine roses in pots and foliage plants in what we may 

 call the aisles, hidden from this point of view, which 

 might with advantage have been placed in the fore- 

 ground, or middle foreground, while the pelargoniums 

 that occupied the position might have taken their place. 

 We should add that some foreigners entered into com- 

 petition. Mr. A. Dalliere, of Ghent, sent some fine 

 Dracseme, and Mr. Pfersdorff, of Paris, a choice collection 

 of Cacti. The day was one of the finest we have had in 

 this wet and cold season, and a very large number of 

 people attended on the first day. The Fruit was the 

 finest we have seen at this season of the year for a long 

 time. 



REVIEW. 



Botany for Beginners: an Introduction to the Study of 

 Plants. By Maxwell T. Masters, M.D., F.R.S. 



How true it is that only men who thoroughly know 

 their subject can write simply, and never do scientific 

 men confer a greater boon on the particular science 



they follow than when they venture so to do, for, 

 as the accomplished author of this little volume 

 before us truly says, " one of the greatest difficulties 

 in the way of those beginning to study Botany arises 

 from the profusion of details usually presented to their 

 notice at the outset." And his book is an honest and 

 successful attempt to encourage the study of his favourite 

 science by making these details as interesting as pos- 

 sible. We say successful, because in our own family these 

 papers, as they appeared in the " Gardeners' Chronicle," 

 were perused with delight, and led to an earnest follow- 

 ing out of the subject which other books failed to effect. 

 The style in which the book is written is pleasing and 

 attractive, while a reverent spirit, such as we would 

 always wish to see shown in works of this kind, per- 

 vades its pages, and, without dragging in religious 

 topics, the author lets it be seen that his wish is to 

 encourage his readers to regard the works of Creation 

 as a testimony to Creation's God. " O, si sic omnes !" 



It would be impossible for us to enter into any de- 

 tailed criticism of this charming little brochure, but we 

 may give as an illustration of the author's style and 

 mode of treatment the following passage : — After allud- 

 ing to the speculations as to the origin and distribution 

 of plants, he says, page 89 : — " The beginner, however, 

 for whom these notes are penned, will be apt to say, 

 ' Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, I cannot 

 attain unto it;' but, in all humility be it spoken, he can 

 attain unto it to a certain extent, and it is this very 

 circumstance that should stimulate him to study God's 

 works as fully as the means at his disposal will permit. 

 Let us not be misunderstood ; no amount of speculation, 

 apart from the search for and accumulation of facts, will 

 avail him aught, it will be so much waste labour and 

 loss of time. His speculative faculty must be turned 

 to account, not in framing mental fragments on a base- 

 less foundation, but in divining the meaning and im- 

 portance of the facts before him. This will be as fertile 

 in good results as the other will be sterile. New facts 

 and new aspects of old facts will continually arise before 

 him, and if he never attain to the full fountain of 

 knowledge, which is not for finite beings to hope for 

 here, at least he will be always progressing, and extend- 

 ing his knowledge of the marvels of Creation." We 

 may add that the book is profusely illustrated by wood- 

 cuts, most of them from the facile pencil of our artist, 

 Mr.Worthington G. Smith, and that it is " got up " in a 

 very attractive manner. 



